1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for monitoring vehicles, specifically to mileage tracking devices.
2. Prior Art
The need for systems that collect and record information about the usage of a vehicle is well known. Such systems are frequently employed to catalog the operation of a vehicle as being related to business or personal usage. A drawback of these systems concern the inflexibility with which user data may be input, correlated, and retrieved.
In order to best view the advantages of the present invention, a summary of the most relevant prior art follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,933 (2004) to Glass discloses a software and hardware apparatus for tracking tax-deductible mileage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,610 (2000) to Rothert, et al. discloses a vehicle operation method and apparatus for monitoring usage and condition of a vehicle including mileage, gas used, collision damage, area of operation, time of usage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,609 (2000) to Herdeg, et al. discloses a method of collecting a vehicle itinerary determining the length of travel, time of travel, and the routing as in a trip journal and determining who drove the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,322 (1997) to Westerlage, et al. discloses a method for determining tax of a vehicle. It includes a positioning device operable to determine a plurality of vehicle positions along a route traveled by the vehicle. A memory stores geographic information defusing a plurality of taxing regions through which the route of the vehicle passes. The object being to determine the tax for the vehicle in at least one taxing region through which the route of the vehicle passes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,148 (1998) to Heiser, et al. discloses a positional information storage and retrieval system and method. It consists of a plurality of receiver/transmitter units and a processor unit. Coordinate information of receiver/transmitter units is received by the positional information unit and used to determine the positional information according to triangulation or other techniques embodied within the positional detection unit. Algorithms embodied within the processor unit generate, update and control access to a database of information relating to locations of the subjects within the operational environment over time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,461 (1999) to Neher discloses a method utilizing a global positioning and tracking system for locating one of a person and item of property.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,916 (2000) to Wood, Jr., et al discloses a method and apparatus for a base station or interrogator station to monitor the itinerary of one or more vehicles or other movable assets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,072 (2000) to Nagai discloses a navigation device for use in a vehicle which is capable of determining and displaying a current position of the vehicle on a road map indicated on a display screen via internet communication means.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,429 (2000) to Crothall, et al. discloses an integrated position determination system and radio transceiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,650 (2000) to Schipper, et al. discloses a vehicle location system for monitoring location, speed, and odometer of a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,965 (2000) to Murphy discloses a calibration means for a vehicle mileage meter or taximeter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,542 (1995) to Liesveld discloses an apparatus for analog recording of audible information about a trip.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,933 tries to automate the process of categorizing tax-deductible mileage by designating stop locations and trip segments as tax-deductible. When driving, the apparatus will automatically categorize those stop locations and segments as tax-deductible. Later, the data is moved to a base station and the user is able to review the trips and add or subtract tax-deductible mileage as needed.
While prior art is able to record mileage, location, or category information; none of the prior art is able to serve as a system for automatically recording any type of information related to a trip. For example, there is a need to have a platform that is capable of recording any information occurring between the start and the end of a trip.
What is needed is a more accurate and flexible system for users to be able to determine the category for a trip while en-route, and the ability to categorize into multiple tax-deductible categories such as medical, charity, or business. In addition, users need a way to categorize into other categories such as for specific accounts. En-route categorization allows immediate display of estimated tax deductions, display of mileage for particular categories, and display of other information related to that category.
While the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,933 has the capability to categorize segments and stops into a tax-deductible category; it does not have the en-route capability to record the destination, purpose or other information the vehicle operator would want to capture about the trip. What is needed is a way for the vehicle operator to verbally annotate the trip to add information about the trip that is not easily input in other ways.
While the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,933 has the capability to download route information to a base unit where mileage is calculated, it does not have the capability to calculate mileage en-route. What is needed is a way to calculate mileage en-route so as to be able to display trip mileage to the vehicle operator and use it for real-time calculation and display of an estimated tax-deduction.
Additionally, a way is needed to conserve memory space. If mileage is calculated en-route then route information can be discarded.
While the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,933 and other prior art has the capability to categorize segments and/or stops as being tax-deductible or not, they do not have the capability to allow the vehicle operator to continue a segment or ignore a stop en-route using a “continue” button (meaning the segment is a continuation of the last segment driven). Since trips may include multiple segments and/or multiple stops, what is needed is a way to group them together real-time en-route so that mileage and other information are recorded per trip, and can be displayed as the trip is happening.
While the prior art has the capability to detect the start and end of a trip by means of the door being opened or the car being started, what is needed is a way to detect the beginning and ending of a trip by location movements. In this way, a device does not have to be attached to signals from the vehicle or other related devices (such as the remote control).
While prior art has used GPS receivers to calculate distance, there are some inherent disadvantages to this method. One issue is that the GPS mileage calculation may or may not match the vehicle odometer. Calibration is required to correlate the two mileage instruments. What is needed is an optical means for reading the vehicle odometer so no calibration is required.
In addition to the issue of calibration, GPS receivers have the inherent issue of loss of satellite signal in hard to reach areas such as canyons, in urban areas with tall building, under bridges, and inside parking garages. What is needed is an optical means for recording the vehicle odometer so that mileage can be recorded in these “dead” spots.
Another need for vehicular monitoring is to have a device that can record the information shown on the vehicle's instrument panel during trips. Instruments that need monitoring capability include: the odometer, the speedometer, warning indicators, RPM indicator, fuel indicator, trip odometer, headlight status, and so forth.
Other prior devices heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
                1. They do not allow provide a platform designed specifically to record and relate any digitally presented information to a particular trip.        2. They do not allow a vehicle operator to specify the category of a trip real-time while en-route.        3. They do not allow a vehicle operator to annotate a trip and related data and information with verbal information.        4. They do not calculate and display an estimated tax deduction in real-time.        5. They do not have the en-route capability to press a button or provide other en-route user input to indicate that the current segment is a continuation of the prior trip.        6. They do not have the capability to detect the start and the end of a trip by using movement of the vehicle; and thus must be electronically attached to the vehicle in some way to receive a vehicular signal indicating a start and end to a trip. They cannot operate independently of the vehicle.        7. They have to be calibrated to match the vehicle odometer.        8. They typically use a GPS receiver for mileage calculation and the GPS receiver may be unreliable in certain situations.        9. They do not have the capability to record status of display devices on the vehicle instrument panel.        